Wedding Gifts
by YoungBek
Summary: Gwen isn't enjoying her Hen Night as much as she hoped she would, and Ianto's not enjoying keeping an eye on her. Set after Something Borrowed
1. Chapter 1

Gwen had only just managed to forget about Torchwood and shape shifters to enjoy her hen night. She finally weaseled herself away from the stripper, directing him instead to her bridesmaids. She laughed at their excited giggles as they waved notes in front of the man's twirling hips.

She had missed this. An easy night away with the girls was just something she never dreamed to get these days. Between Torchwood and Rhys she hardly had time to sleep. A pang in her heart told her that her friends probably didn't miss her as much these days as they would have two years ago. She didn't know what hurt more, that or the fact that she felt the same. The girls didn't know her half as well as they used to, and she had no way to fix the situation. Her life now was danger and wonder and everything that she had hardly gotten away with telling Rhys. She didn't even know if she wanted them to know. For one, she didn't know the effect it would have on them. Would they spend their lives afterward forever fearing whatever lurked in the sewers? Knowing that the bumps in the night were real certainly changed the way Gwen viewed the world. She had always wanted to protect those around her, to conquer evil like a cartoon hero. Now that she was one, she realized it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Not only that, but she liked knowing things others didn't. For the first time she had a reason to think she was better than the people she met on the street. She hadn't always felt this superior. She worked hard to get where she was in the heart of the most powerful organization in Cardiff. She was better because she wanted to be, because she achieved it. There was nothing wrong with wanting to keep that to herself. Was there?

Suddenly she noticed a blurry arm waving in front of her glazed vision. The airy, satisfied smirk fell away from her face as she focused back on her maid of honor, Trina. She was beaming at Gwen, and the agent wondered what she had missed while she was in her thoughts.

"You still thinking of Officer Perfection?" She called over the music, indicating the still dancing stripper on the other side of the table.

"Thinking more on Mr. Perfection Cooper-Williams" She grinned as Trina made a disgusted face.

"Yeah, you mind waiting until you're out of the honeymoon phase to come round to mine?" She laughed, and Gwen was reminded once again of the comradery that they had once had. She sighed as she realized how melancholy she was being. This entire outing was devoted to her, and all she wanted was to go home and cuddle up to Rhys. She figured a little time away from the excitement would do to get it out of her system.

She moved to get up and found the girls beginning to follow her.

"No, it's alright, I'm just popping off to the loo" She said, trying to get some time to herself.

"Nonsense!" Cried Megan, who had already had more drinks than Gwen and Trina combined. "We'll follow you love!"

Five minutes later they all stumbled out of the bathroom back towards their table. The only thing that had achieved was reminding Gwen of her injury from earlier that night, and of all the secrets she kept from them.

They made their way back to where they had settled, casting uninterested looks over the rest of the room as they did so. Gwen saw a flash of light from the club's menu moving quickly, but she paid it no heed. They'd paid the dancer before they left, so their chairs we empty and they sunk into them. Gwen was doing her best to seem upbeat and chipper, and if she said so herself, she was doing a good job of it. She figured the only way to make it easier to make it through the night was more drinks, and she beckoned someone over to fetch it for her.

It was then, as she was turning around, that Gwen saw something out of the corner of her eye. She knew it was familiar, but she had had just enough to drink that night that she couldn't quite place how. She had already turned away from whatever it was, and was trying to find it again. She sighed as she realized the only person sitting in that area was a man two booths back. She waited for him to bring the menu he was holding away from his face. She was more alert as he stubbornly kept the menu at eye level for more time than was natural.

It was a thin pamphlet, and barely covered him. In fact, if he were sitting anywhere else on the booth, Gwen would be able to see at least half of his face. He was obviously here to stalk her. She tried to look at the bit of his body visible over the table, but his dark leather jacket gave her no hints as to who it was.

"Earth to Gwen?" Megan called, wondering why her friend was facing away from their conversation. The bride spun around to face her, and both bridesmaids wore matching confused expressions.

"Do you see that bloke?" Gwen said, ignoring whatever they had been talking about beforehand. Both turned their heads to look at him at the same time. Gwen would have found it at least mildly amusing if she weren't so concerned.

"The bloke with the menu?" Trina asked. Gwen groaned, he was keeping himself covered to them, too.

"Yes, that one. Look back at me." She said. The girls were looking more and more alarmed, now. "Now try to see him, without looking right at him" They did and their eyes widened.

"Okay, he's bringing it down now." Megan whispered, now completely sober. "Oh God, he's looking at us. He's properly looking at us! We're being stalked!" Gwen took her hand and looked her in the eyes.

"It's alright" Gwen said in a perfectly calming voice. She had mastered it over the years. When Megan spoke again it was at a lower pitch, and didn't waver quite as much.

"What do you think he wants?" She asked.

"I don't know, but I'll find out. Can you describe him to me?"

"Uh, I don't know! He's wearing a leather jacket, and a pink button up shirt. It's a dress shirt, why would he wear a dress shirt?"

"Focus."

"He's got a thing in his ear. Like ah… Bluetooth? He just tapped it. Hold on. He's talking."

"Can you read his lips?"

"Something about shit. 'I'm shit at this' I think?" She paused, "He waiting for a response. He's laughing, why is he laughing?" Gwen squeezed her hand reassuringly. "He's talking again. Something like 'I'm going to kill Jack'. Who's Jack?"

"I don't know" Gwen lied. Her veins ran cold. So this person knew about Torchwood. She groaned as she knew she was powerless on her own. She had left her gun at the Hub, as well as her earpiece. She could always call Jack, but she didn't want to if she didn't absolutely need to.

The stalker was distracted by his conversation, so she chanced a glace around. The man in question jumped as he realized she was turning around and hid his face a fraction of a second too late. All of the tension drained from Gwen as she turned back around. The girls saw her expression and calmed down as well.

"What?" Trina asked.

"Nothing." Gwen chuckled "Absolutely nothing. Don't worry, I know him. I'll be right back" Still laughing to herself she got up to walk across to where Ianto sat, still trying in vain to cover his face. She sat down across from him and waited once again for him to lower his cover.

"You know, you were never really any good at subterfuge" She mocked when he didn't meet her eyes.

"Mr. Perfection? I think you're being a bit generous with Rhys. I'd think more along the lines of Mr. Best-I'm-Going –To-Get- Because-Ianto's-Taken" Ianto said playfully as he finally took the menu away from his face. Gwen was proud to note that his cheeks were tinged pink from the embarrassment of being caught.

"It's a bit wordy"

"Well, I didn't have much time to perfect it"

"Jack here, too?" Gwen asked, looking around for the leader of her team.

"No, just me and Tosh" Ianto said, ignoring his irritation with the captain and Gwen's excitement to see him. Though seeing him in a club scene would be comical, he thought to himself.

"Where's she?"

"By the entrance, though neither of us really know what we're looking for."

"What do you mean?" She asked, suddenly intrigued.

"It was a shape shifter. It's not exactly as though we know what it's meant to look like"

"Jack killed it"

"There could be more. Owen wasn't done with the autopsy, so he doesn't know what species or whether they hunt in packs"

"Oh good" Gwen mused, wanting to be at the dimly lit club even less than she had before. "I still don't think I'm happy with being stalked by you and Tosh"

"It's part of the job, Gwen" Ianto sighed. It wasn't exactly his best idea of a night off either.

"Not really! Besides, you know I can take care of myself!" She rose her voice steadily before she noticed Ianto glancing back at the women at the table.

"You've already been attacked once today, and it's not as if you're armed" The Welshman stated, gesturing toward the bloodied bandage on her arm from only a few hours before. "Plus I can tell you've had a few"

Gwen raised her eyebrow skeptically at the half-gone pint in front of Ianto. He followed her gaze and only blushed mildly before getting the topic of conversation back on track.

"Besides, it's not exactly fair to you." She said, still trying to get him to leave the bar.

"Think of it as a wedding gift." He rebutted, still trying to convince her to go on with her party and allow him to stay

"You've all given me so many 'wedding gifts' already, if I remember correctly"

"It's not every decade a Torchwood agent gets married. In fact, I'm pretty sure there's only four known cases, save you"

"And at least one of them was to Jack I'm sure" Two were in fact, Ianto knew, but he didn't say so to Gwen. Jack didn't even know that Ianto knew about his past wives. He probably wouldn't be surprised, Ianto did work in the archives, after all.

"You know Jack" Ianto covered his tracks "All bark and no bite" Gwen's expression immediately softened as Ianto realized his mistake.

"Maybe one day" She said, trying to console the young archivist.

"No, no" Ianto tried to correct himself. "He hasn't barked at me" He flushed pure red as he realized that he must have had more beer than he thought. He wasn't making any sense now that he was flustered. Hurriedly he tried to fix what he had said.

"What I mean is, Jack and I are on common ground so far as marriage. It isn't happening, and we're both more than happy at that" He finally met Gwen's eyes and realized he had said infinitely more than he had to. She was grinning ear to ear, and was holding back a laugh at his expense.

"I know" She said, smiling slyly at her own joke, "It's just nice to see you out of control for bloody once"

"Go back to your party, I'll hold up the watch" Ianto blushed once again as he gestured over to where Megan and Trina were watching them like hawks.

"Fine, and really, thanks for doing this. Tell Tosh thanks, too" She waved as she turned around and began to walk back to her friends, obviously about to be bombarded by countless questions. She made it to her table, and before the girls uttered a single word she withdrew her phone and keyed in the number to reach Jack. If he hired spies he was certainly going to her a word or two from her about it.'


	2. Chapter 2

Ianto pulled open the door to his flat, half hanging on it in his exhaustion. He shuffled over to his closet in order to put away his coat and was almost about to flop into his well-worn couch before he heard a noise in his dimly lit kitchen. He drew the gun that was still secured to the small of his back.

"Hello?" He called out cautiously, edging closer to the arched entry. "Who's there? I'm armed" He stated as he cocked the gun loudly to prove his point. His heart thudded heavily in his chest and he rolled his eyes at himself. It wasn't as if a robber was the worst thing he had ever come into contact with. He heard the fridge close, and raised an eyebrow in spite of himself.

"Ianto?" He heard drift out of the darkness. The young man let all the tension fall from his shoulders. Walking form the shadows towards him with a mildly amused expression on his face and a sandwich in his hand was his boss.

"Jack" He said, confused but certainly not surprised, "You're in my flat"

Jack paused for a moment before answering with a nod of the head and an inquisitive quirk of the eyebrow, asking whether it was alright. Ianto stood for a moment, awkwardly swaying on the spot. It was nearing three in the morning and he had had a few drinks at the booming nightclub.

"Tea?" He asked, finally deciding that it didn't matter as long as he found a bed within the next hour.

"Yan, I'm surprised at you. I think this is the first time you've offered me tea in your life. Where's the coffee?"

"I'm knackered. I spent three hours reorganizing an entire section of the archives this morning because Owen's a twat, had to track down a shape shifter whose only identifiable feature could be changed at will, and I just watched Gwen get a lap dance from a bloke in a G-string. I need the sleep, not the caffeine" He said as he put away his gun and moved to turn on the kettle.  
"Shit, there was a stripper? I wish I would've joined you, then" Jack remarked, energy still at a high after the long action filled day he had.

"Knowing you, you would have blown our cover just to tip him"

"Likely, but apparently I'm not the only one who's bad at covert. Gwen called me about hour ago chewing me out about sending reinforcements to her hen night."

"How could you expect me to efficiently hide this face" The younger man said in a deadpan. The kettle dinged. As he doled out tea bags and water, Jack moved to press up against him from behind.

"Good point" He whispered in his ear. Ianto squirmed out of his reach and held out a finished mug, already sipping at his own.

"No way" He said, voice hoarse from the heat of the tea. "I'm going to bed" The captain perked up visibly "To sleep, Jack. Whether you join me or not is up to you, but I'm completely done with today."

Jack grabbed at the tea in his hand and allowed his fingers to lightly brush Ianto's. The younger man started towards the bedroom and his lover followed slowly. Ianto was slightly startled at the figure that had sidled into the room behind him. He had expected Jack to go home after he hadn't convinced Ianto to let anything happen tonight, but was comforted by it all the same. He placed his tea at his bedside and watched from his peripherals as Jack moved to the other side to do the same. They undressed in silence and found their way under the sheets in synchronization.

After a final glance at his lover, Ianto turned off his light bedside him and settled in for sleep.

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Thank you for reading :) Every review is loved, dearly.


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